The Farmstead

It is my birthday! It is also magnificently sunny, which is a strange phenomenon indeed. Thanks everyone for the good wishes and green_maia for the virtual gift!!

I didn't have a very exciting morning, because I had an appointment at the hospital about what will be my new hearing aids, which we did all the testing and calibrating for. I held my nerve and asked about the exciting transparent dark blue ones I'd seen on the internet, but they only had beige in, so they're going to have to send them to me when they've ordered some and programmed them up. But! I had the test ones on for a little while and they seemed to do enough to make me think I'm not wasting everyone's time about wanting to try them, though apparently it's going to take getting used to them before the world stops sounding like a bathroom. I hope they'll be OK; with both them and my glasses round my ears I felt remarkably cyborg-like, but you can't really see the tubes in my ear.

Because I am a creature of routine, I then went into the library, but thankfully found a few of friends at lunchtime with the presence of mind to tell me I should fuck off and go shopping. Also that there was more than enough time to rally at least the lit. people together for a drink this evening, so we will be off for Nando's and cocktails later! I really wanted to organise something with all the various disparate groups of friends I have, but I didn't get my act together at all... But I did have pizza with some other people last night, and was presented with four bottles of Jelly Belly soda (!!!! - Cyber Candy FTW)! Haven't tried them yet, but am looking forward to it. Maybe I should have one when I've finished my Coke...

I also had some cash from my family, so I did indeed fuck off for the afternoon and go shopping. The only problem is that, with the weather as it is, I'm feeling remarkably lacking in anything remotely spring like or slouchy-cool. This is partly because the two vaguely slouchy-cool tops I own need a wash and I'm stuck otherwise with tight t-shirts (all of which are getting really old). I didn't really solve this problem, but I did buy the palest jumper I've owned in a long time/ever(?). I also found a Whistles slouchy jumper dress reduced to £35 in John Lewis, which was a bit of a result. It's not really spring like in any respect, but it is burgundy and 100% merino wool, so I don't see how this can be in any way bad. It needs some leggings and boots, but then it will be joy!

On the baking front I have discovered

- the oven in my new house runs at least ten if not twenty degrees higher than advertised.
- non-stick cake tins aren't actually non-stick; things will still stick, it just won't be as much of a disaster if you tried cooking without paper in a normal cake tin. You still need paper if you want your cake to come away clean from the bottom.
- hand whisks gathered second-hand from a friend of a friend are liable to break halfway through mixing your sponge batter, leaving you minutes of fun trying to get the sponge of them and trying to make sure that the butter is all unlumped.

All in all, I think this has produced the worst all-in-one Victoria sponges that I have made since I was nine years old. And I'm intending to serve it to stultiloquentia tomorrow when she visits... :( (To be fair, I think it will taste OK in the middle where it rose properly, but the edges are all flat and crispy. Sigh! I'm meant to be good at sponges. I should have got a new baking tray and made brownies...)

Otherwise, on the ears front, over the last few months I've been finding it more and more difficult to hear people in crowds. And understand French when I can't see lips moving. This possibly requires a slightly larger sigh than the cake!fail, though as a start I apparently need to get them syringed again, so I'm on olive oil until Monday, before I have that done and a proper hearing test on Wednesday. Considering the amount of deafness on my dad's side of the family and the fact that my ears have already proved themselves quite shit, I'm not holding out much hope for an all clear, but we shall see. And, hey, apparently NHS hearing aids come in funky colours these days...

Otherotherwise, in case it got lost, Stulti's coming to visit tomorrow!!! I am excited. If unlikely to impress with my baking skills.

It was my seasonal_spuffy day yesterday, which turned out to be a rather extreme output of my last few month's creative energies... But still, Remix and the Free For All day are on the horizon!! (And sb_fag_ends is still running...!)

First of all I had a fic - a post-DMP crossover with AtS just post-Loyalty, featuring a strung-out Wesley, an Angel doped up on baby-love and a long-suffering Lorne. ~25,000 words, rated R for reasonably explicit sex and quite a lot of swearing, AO3 warning free.

The More Things Stay the Same. (Also now on DW.)
Buffy goes to Wesley instead of Tara about the resurrection spell.

I also had a vid, which was an experiment with John Cage's 4'33''. I might as well re-embed it here...

( I posted it with a brief sort-of introduction, because it was an experiment, but if you'd rather just see what it does on its own without my nattering, then skip this cut. )

TL;DR: This vid is strange, but you can hopefully still watch it with the sound off. It comes with a free poem...? Warnings for discrete flashes and a lot of juddery cutting. Otherwise it's fairly gloomy in mood, but with nothing more ratings-worthy than a rat. And those strangely made-up cuts on Spike's chest from Lessons. If you feel like it, I'd recommend watching with the lights off and in HD / having downloaded the file.

( 4'33'' )